Da Xuan Martial Saint

"Benefactor, don't you want the meat of this leopard?"

Jin Ling'er saw Chen Mu walking along the mountain path towards the distance, without looking at the abandoned leopard corpse, and thus couldn't help but speak out.

Chen Mu glanced back at her with a tranquil expression and nodded. The leopard was indeed a demon, but only of the Second Rank, which for him at this time was nothing worthy of interest.

"Can I take it with me, then?"

Jin Ling'er cautiously looked at Chen Mu and said, "Mother hasn't had meat for a long time."

Chen Mu smiled and nodded.

Expecting Jin Ling'er to cut a piece of leopard meat to take with her, Chen Mu was slightly surprised when, instead, she approached the corpse of the leopard demon, grabbed it, and managed to lift the beast, which was much larger than herself, weighing at least four to five hundred pounds.

To Chen Mu, such strength was naturally insignificant, but for a young girl like Jin Ling'er who had clearly never practiced martial arts, such strength was quite extraordinary. Even without examining her physical condition, it was evident that she likely possessed a sort of innate divine strength, a rarity among the disciples of the Seven Profound Sect's various peaks.

"Impressive strength."

Chen Mu said with a smile.

Jin Ling'er's cheeks blushed slightly, her petite frame carrying the huge leopard demon beside her, she said, "I've always wanted to go hunting with Uncle, to get some meat for mother, but they won't take me. They say I'm too young and only let me gather herbs."

Walking alongside Jin Ling'er, Chen Mu admired the mountain scenery, continued to comprehend the essence of heaven and earth, and said, "Your uncle must be quite a remarkable person."

"Yes."

Jin Ling'er nodded vigorously, speaking with great admiration: "When uncle was young, he went out of the mountain and learned skills from a master. He's much stronger than me, and nearly half the yearly catch in the village is thanks to him."

Chen Mu slightly nodded, touched by Jin Ling'er's admiring look that somewhat reminded him of Yue'er. He casually asked a few more questions, learning from Jin Ling'er that these mountain dwellers were not completely isolated from the world.

The mountains had scattered villages.

And at the center of these scattered villages, there were larger towns where various goods could be bought and bartered.

Even a young girl like Jin Ling'er was aware that the large mountain area they lived in was called 'Bi Prefecture', and beyond Bi Prefecture, there was the lofty Seven Profound Sect.

"So it turns out, benefactor, that you come from the Seven Profound Sect. No wonder you could catch me when I fell from the mountain," Jin Ling'er was astonished upon understanding that Chen Mu came from the Seven Profound Sect.

"Hmm, would you like to go to the Seven Profound Sect to learn martial arts?"

As Chen Mu looked ahead to where the path bent around a not too large or small village, he posed the question to Jin Ling'er.

Although the selection of disciples under Spirit Profound Peak had been Zhao Zhenchuan's responsibility before, now it was Meng Danyun managing it, Chen Mu didn't pay much attention to this, but given Jin Ling'er's special natural talents, he felt it was worth mentioning since they had met.

"I would." Continue your adventure at empire

Jin Ling'er answered sincerely: "It's just that my mother's health isn't very good, I..."

"There's no need to rush to decide."

Chen Mu spoke casually, and halted in his tracks, no longer moving forward, looking toward the nearby village with smoke curling up from it: "Alright, go back home. I will return here in a few days."

With Jin Ling'er's physical talents, she could directly enter the Inner Sect in the Seven Profound Sect, and inevitably reach the Bone Tempering level in the future. To many, not going to the Seven Profound Sect might seem a pity, but Chen Mu thought that going or not sometimes wasn't so clear-cut.

Perhaps.

If Jin Ling'er went to the Seven Profound Sect, progressed in cultivation up to Bone Tempering or even to the Five Viscera, she might soon face dangers like desert calamities and quietly vanish amidst them.

If she stayed in the secluded, rustic mountain, away from the world, although life might be tough and perilous, it might not necessarily be without its own happiness. Therefore, Chen Mu wouldn't make the choice for her.

The decision which path to take, how to walk that path, must still lie in one's own heart and intent.

"Clear understanding, perceive nature, unmovable, undeluded, without guilt, without regrets."

Chen Mu suddenly reflected, gaining a deeper layer of understanding of the martial will.

These were ultimately easy to speak of but hard to enact.

Unmovable, undeluded, without guilt, without regrets—like Jin Ling'er, if she left her home to study in the Seven Profound Sect, and then one day returned to find that all her loved ones had passed away, would she be able to remain without regrets?

Or like himself, who had left Yu County where he had lived for many years, entered under Spirit Profound Peak, traveled around cultivating, nearly two years passing in a flash. If one day he saw Xu Hongyu, Ning He, and others no longer in the bloom of youth, would his heart be swayed?

No wonder reaching the level of a Grandmaster is so difficult.

Mere steadfastness and clarity of mind are hurdles enough to cause many martial artists to wander all their lives, not to mention living without guilt or regrets.

"Relying on the system panel's capabilities, my every realm should face no bottlenecks. Even without the cultivated martial will necessary for solidifying, I can forcefully ascend, stepping into Marrow Cleansing is not an issue, perhaps only when stepping into the third phase of the Qiankun Artistic Conception will I need to stabilize myself with guilt-free, regret-free martial will, but that is still very far from where I am now."

Chen Mu quickly gathered all his thoughts, returning to a state of calm.

He watched as Jin Ling'er left.

Then, in a flash, his figure also disappeared in the distance, continuing towards the direction of the Yunni Sky Steps.

The Yunni Sky Steps were located northeast of Bi Prefecture, as well as being the highest point in the region.

As Chen Mu continued his journey, the terrain became increasingly elevated. Compared to other prefectures, it gradually rose nearly two thousand cubits high. Unless one was a mountain resident accustomed to this altitude, even some martial artists in the Skin Toughening or Body Refinement Realm, if suddenly arriving at such a high elevation, would face immense pressure.